Li Mu walked out of Changle Palace with a puzzled look on his face.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the Empress wasn't happy about the news of his upcoming marriage.
That didn't make sense. He was loyal to the Empress. Shouldn't the Empress be happy for him now that he had successfully resolved his marriage?
Unless the Empress had a change of heart.
But that didn't seem possible. They were still in love a few days ago. There was no reason for her to suddenly change her mind.
Li Mu thought about it carefully and realized that he had been too careless this time.
When it came to marriage, other people might think of it as happiness and bliss. However, the Empress' marriage was not blissful. She was used as a political bargaining chip by the Zhou Clan and married to the former Crown Prince. They were only husband and wife in name, but not in reality …
She had a failed marriage. Wasn't Li Mu stabbing her in the heart by mentioning marriage in front of her?
He hadn't thought about this matter. He should have thought about taking the Empress' feelings into consideration …
He sighed. It was too late for regrets now. He had to be more careful in front of the Empress in the future. She was powerful, but her heart was fragile and sensitive. She was very similar to Liu Hanyan in this aspect.
Even their experiences had something in common.
They were both betrayed by their families. For someone who had experienced this, no matter how high their position was or how powerful they were, there would always be a sensitive and forbidden area in their hearts.
Fortunately, Liu Hanyan had met him. Li Mu would use the rest of his life to heal the wounds she had suffered when she was young. The Empress, on the other hand, was not so lucky. No matter how powerful she was, no matter how high her status was, and no matter how powerful she was, she would never be able to obtain a man like him …
Li Mu didn't stop when he passed by the Secretary's Department. He walked past it directly.
Li Mu was now a member of the Secretary's Department and had many colleagues here. However, Li Mu only had a nodding acquaintance with some of them. Some of them seemed to be friendly on the surface, but they were actually mortal enemies. Li Mu hoped to see friends he truly recognized at his wedding.
He would invite the constables of the Fairy's Department, not the officials of the Secretary's Department.
The Fairy's Department.
When the constables heard the news, they all congratulated him.
"Congratulations, Boss …"
"No wonder the boss doesn't care about the women in Fairy's Capital. It turns out that she's already taken …"
"Hehe, if this news gets out, who knows how many women in the Fairy's Capital will cry …"
…
Inside the yamen, Li Si cupped his hands to Li Mu and said, "Congratulations …"
Li Mu asked, "What about you? When do you plan to get married?"
Li Si said, "I'll wait for Miaomiao to go down the mountain. In a few days, I'll be returning to the North County. Do you want to pick up Zhang Shan?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "When you come back, take him with you."
It had been a long time since the three heroes of the Yangqiu County Government gathered together. After that farewell, the three of them were no longer the same.
Zhang Shan was different from Li Mu and Li Si. He wasn't interested in cultivation. Nothing was more attractive to him than making money.
Li Si put his hand on Li Mu's shoulder and said, "Since you've decided to get married, you'll have to settle down …"
Li Mu was stunned. "When have I not settled down?"
All the people in Fairy's Capital knew that his Primordial Yang was still there. He had kept his chastity for Liu Hanyan. Was this not settling down?
Li Si shook his head and didn't say anything else.
After leaving the Fairy's Department, Li Mu returned to the North Court. He didn't go back to the Li Mansion but to the Zhang Mansion first.
Before he left Fairy's Capital last time, the Empress had rewarded Zhang Chun with a house with three courtyards. Although it was still a distance away from his dream of a house with five courtyards, it was still the envy of countless officials in the court to own a house with three courtyards in a place like the North Court where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.
Li Mu knocked on the door. Soon, footsteps came from inside. Zhang Chun opened the door and said, "Li Mu, when did you come back to Fairy's Capital? Come in and have a seat …"
Li Mu said, "I just came back. I won't be coming in. I'm here to deliver something to you."
Li Mu took out an invitation and handed it to him. He said, "I'm getting married next month. Remember to bring Madam Zhang and Miss Yiyi to the wedding banquet …"
Zhang Chun was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He said in shock, "Wedding!"
Li Mu was also stunned. He asked, "Is there a problem?"
Zhang Chun said in disbelief, "Will the Zhou family agree? Will the Xiao family agree? Even if they agree, all the officials in the court won't agree …"
Li Mu looked at him strangely. He was marrying Liu Hanyan, not the Empress. Why did the Zhou family and the Xiao family agree? What right did all the officials have to object?
Zhang Chun flipped open the invitation and was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses and said, "So it's with Miss Liu …"
Li Mu said, "Who else can it be?"
Zhang Chun shook his head and said in disappointment, "No, no one …"
Li Mu frowned and asked, "Old Zhang, you don't seem too happy about my marriage?"
"No, of course not!" Zhang Chun showed a smile that was uglier than crying. He said, "Congratulations, congratulations. I wish you and Lady Liu grow old together and have a child soon …"
After a while, Zhang Chun saw Li Mu off and closed the door. He leaned against the door and sighed.
Madam Zhang walked out of the room and asked worriedly, "What happened? Why do you look like that?"
Zhang Chun sighed again and said, "Madam, I'm afraid there's no hope for our five-zoned house …"
…
Li Mu returned home and found that Liu Hanyan had already finished cooking and was waiting for him in the yard.
Usually, he was the one who cooked at home. When the Empress came, the situation suddenly changed. He was not used to it.
Liu Hanyan made all the dishes that Li Mu liked. She said with a satisfied smile, "Today, I went shopping with Xiao Bai and Wanwan and heard the people talking about you."
The people of Shen 'du were his solid support. Li Mu asked calmly, "What did they say about me?"
Liu Hanyan said, "They said that you are righteous, not afraid of power, and that you are a good official."
Li Mu asked, "What else did they say?"
Liu Hanyan said with satisfaction, "They also said that you are clean and do not get close to women …"
Li Mu looked at her and said, "Do you believe me now? Even if you don't believe in Xiao Bai, don't you believe in all the people of Shen 'du?"
"I believe you, I believe you …" Liu Hanyan picked up a piece of tofu and put it in front of his mouth. She said, "Open your mouth, this is your reward …"
…
Li Mu was very busy these days. There was only a month before the wedding, but there were many things that needed to be prepared in advance.
There were many details involved. Especially for people like him and Liu Hanyan who had never been married before, they did not know how to do it.
Among the people he knew, only Zhang Chun and the Empress had experience.
He definitely could not ask the Empress. Firstly, she definitely did not need to prepare for her wedding. Secondly, he had already stabbed the Empress in the chest a few days ago. If he asked her now, wouldn't it be the same as rubbing salt on her wound?
As for Zhang Chun, he seemed to have encountered something recently and was in low spirits. Li Mu did not bother him anymore.
Fortunately, with the help of Wanwan and Xiao Bai, although the preparation was slow, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.
In the Li Residence, Li Mu was busy and happy. In the Ministry of Justice, Wei Peng scratched his head in frustration and pulled out a handful of hair.
The assassination of the officials in Anyi County and Tianhe County really made his head ache.
He was familiar with the law and good at judging cases, but not good at investigating cases.
Wei Peng felt that the imperial court should separate judging and investigating cases because they were not the same thing.
Judging a case tested the official's foundation in the law, as well as their understanding and application of the law. As for investigating a case, it tested the official's insight, logical reasoning, and thinking ability …
He was good at judging cases, but not at investigating.
Wasn't it deliberately making things difficult for him to find the murderers based on just two case files?
The deaths of these two officials could be due to personal grudges, or because they were heartless officials and aroused the resentment of the people. They were killed by cultivators who could not bear to see them get rid of evil for the people. This kind of thing happened in every dynasty.
Wei Peng flipped through the resumes of the two officials that he had copied from the Ministry of Personnel. He planned to start with the latter possibility.
However, the resumes of the two officials were very clean.
Their ratings over the years were above A, and they did not seem like corrupt officials who took advantage of the people. However, he also knew that the ratings of the Ministry of Personnel's resumes were no better than a piece of scrap paper. If he really wanted to know how these two officials were like, he would probably have to go to Hanyang County and Danyang County to investigate personally.
Wei Peng rubbed his forehead and leaned back in his chair. He was even more frustrated.
These two cases had happened a long time ago. Even if he went to these two counties, he would not be able to find anything useful.
His eyes inadvertently swept across the resumes of the two officials who were killed, and his gaze suddenly froze.
He sat up again and took the resumes. After looking through them carefully, he finally found some clues.
The deaths of the magistrate of Anyi County and the deputy of Tianhe County were two unrelated cases, but they were related.
For example, the two of them were once in charge of the Ministry of Personnel.
Not only that, they were officials in the Ministry of Personnel at the same time and were promoted in the same year. One was promoted to the magistrate of Anyi County, and the other to the deputy of Tianhe County. It was definitely an exceptional promotion from Grade Nine to Grade Seven …
They were officials in the Ministry of Personnel at the same time, were promoted in an exceptional way, and were almost assassinated at the same time …
Wei Peng stood up suddenly and muttered, "This is definitely not a coincidence …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
